Sorry for the late update. I was working on my summer story, An Altamira Tale. Thanks for all your reviews, they really encourage me. Oh in case you've been confused, "speech" and 'thoughts'. Sorry if that was too much of a problem.
Lloyd and Sheena were sitting in very comfortable chairs, right next to each other. They were in a small and cosy, private compartment in an aeroplane. They had just finished their in flight meal, and were half way through a bottle of wine.
"Man this is awesome!" exclaimed Lloyd, "Who knew a plane trip could be so great?"
"Oh yeah, I don't suppose you've been on first class before have you?" replied Sheena.
"First class? I haven't been on a plane before."
"Well this is the best you can get, so don't expect too much if you go on a lower class."
"Oh believe me I won't, I've had to live my whole life not expecting too much from others."
Sheena felt a bit bad at this, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up..."
"Wha? Don't worry Sheena, it's just a lesson my dad taught me. You know what? I'm finding it nice to remember my parents lately."
"When you say lately..." Sheena started curiously.
"Since you and I got close, I've been remembering how great it is to be close to someone. So instead of mourning my memories, I've been relishing them."
Sheena blushed at this, "You...you mean I helped you get over it? But I didn't do anything."
"You were there." He answered simply, "You were there for me, and you always cared."
At this, Sheena stood up, moved over to Lloyd and kissed him lovingly. "Of course I care for you." She then moved over to one of the luggage compartments, and took out a fairly large parcel and returned to Lloyd's side.
"I was gonna give you this before the party tomorrow, but we've still got an hour before we land, and I think you deserve it now." She handed him the parcel.
Lloyd really wanted to savour that moment as he hadn't been given a present in years, but for the same reason, he wanted to tear it open as fast as he could.
He started to open it very slowly, and when he saw what was inside, he felt like crying. Inside was a brand new, perfectly polished violin. It's bowstrings all looked perfectly tuned, and he could tell just by looking at it, that it was the perfect size for him.
"Wow Sheena! This is...this is..." but he couldn't find the words. Instead, he cupped his hands over Sheena's cheeks, and kissed her with all the love he could muster, "Thanks Sheena."
"Lloyd? Do you think...do you think you could play me that song you played for me the other day?" she asked, blushing furiously.
"I can do better than that, before I wasn't sure if you felt the same, but now I know you do, so I should now be able to play with more love."
He picked up the violin, placed it to his neck, then picked up the bow and started playing. Even though Sheena didn't think it was possible, Lloyd was indeed playing a far more beautiful piece of self written music. It flowed through Sheena with ease, making her forget about everything apart from herself and Lloyd.
After what seemed to be a lifetime of music, one of the servants of Mizuho, who accompanied them, entered the compartment. "I'm sorry to interrupt, your highness, but we've arrived in Meltokio."
"Hmm? Oh...right, thank you." She replied, a bit upset that Lloyd had to stop.
Accompanied by the Mizuho servants, Lloyd and Sheena exited the airport, and entered the limousine awaiting to take them to the palace of Meltokio.
"Say Sheena?" Lloyd asked after a moment of silence. "You've been to this sort of thing before haven't you?"
"Yeah, I have." Sheena replied a bit confused by this sudden question, "Why do you ask?"
"Well...what do you actually do?"
Sheena paused at this, she didn't really know how to answer this. "Well...the main thing is be the polite gentleman. Even with the food, don't be a pig and scoff it all down."
"Right, but what if some noble comes along and asks me questions?"
"Well if you stick with me you should be fine. Most of these things involve lots of dancing anyway."
"Oh, I see...wait DANCING!" now Lloyd was in a panic, "I've never danced in my life!"
"Don't worry Lloyd, you'll be fine, it's not hard." She laughed at his state of panic, "Besides, what would you prefer, dancing with me or answering lots of questions to very important nobles?"
"I see your point." He replied, 'Oh great, I'm gonna make a fool out of myself when I dance with her.'
They arrived ten minutes later at the palace of Meltokio. What really surprised Lloyd, was how big it was. He knew it was bigger than Mizuho's, but it seemed to be twice the size.
"Ah, Lady Sheena." Said a very formal looking nobleman, "Welcome to our fair kingdom."
"Good afternoon Duke Wilder." Answered Sheena as she got out of the vehicle, bowing slightly.
As Lloyd followed her out, the Duke asked, "Ah...this must be..."
"I'm Lloyd Aurion," he finished for him, "it's a pleasure to meet you Duke Wilder, I've heard a lot of good things about you." He offered his hand for it to be shaken.
It took a while for Duke Wilder to shake his hand, in fact he looked absolutely surprised at his statement. "My, my, I must admit I am surprised by that politeness. By what my son said, you are apparently one of those poor commoners who are so uncivilised."
Lloyd had no idea what to say to this. Sheena, however, looked as if she would explode with anger, "meaning no disrespect Duke Wilder, but surely after all the things your son has done, you wouldn't trust him that easily."
"Maybe you're right Lady Sheena, but you know, I always hope that he'll forget his old ways. But that is neither here nor there, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room."
Five minutes later, they were in a room larger than Sheena's, including a kitchen. Sheena unpacked her stuff, whilst Lloyd hung up his suit, as it was the only thing he brought with him, apart from his picture and the violin Sheena bought for him.
As soon as Sheena finished unpacking, a telephone started to ring, "Wow!" stated Lloyd as Sheena went to answer it, "This place has everything."
"Hello?" she asked once picking up the phone, "Oh...ok, thanks. Goodbye."
"What is it?" asked Lloyd curiously.
"We've been asked to meet the representatives of a small city from the west."
"Did they say which?"
"No, but they said they know us."
"Hmm?" Lloyd was trying to think which it could be. Small city in the west, where people knew him. Then it clicked. "Iselia!"
"Really? Wow I guess that is the only place around there that we're known."
"Well lets get moving." He said enthusiastically, and with that they left for the entrance hall to meet their guests.
And there we have it. The next chapter should include the party and a interesting twist, but don't hold me to that. Please keep reviewing.
On another note, I have been getting some reviews saying that they prefer Tetra-Slash's style of writing. I don't mind these as I also prefer his, but I am trying my best.